It is the question that tends to crop up at times like these. What is the point of Andorra? The team from the tiny principality on the border between France and Spain are officially the joint-worst in international football and they are on a run of 32 consecutive losses in competitive ties. Three times in their 15-year history of qualification campaigns have they avoided defeat, with their sole win coming at home to Macedonia in October 2004.

Giovanni Trapattoni, however, considers them to be a hurdle and, as such, a real threat to his Republic of Ireland team's hopes of progressing to the Euro 2012 finals. More than five decades in the profession have taught him that nothing should be taken for granted, and the 72-year-old Italian will stress the importance of focus and discipline to his players before they take to the Estadi Comunal on Fridayin the penultimate round of Group B fixtures.

For Ireland, the equation in an exciting and finely balanced section is simple. Win in Andorra then beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday and ensure a play-off place, at least. Yet if Slovakia were to defeat Russia at home, then Trapattoni's team would qualify automatically with a maximum return from their final two games. Slovakia won in Moscow last September. It should be stressed that Armenia, who remain in contention, together with Slovakia, are unheralded yet dangerous opponents.

For Trapattoni the equation is always simple. The result to him is everything. He sometimes talks of the great players he has managed during his career, such as Michel Platini and Zbigniew Boniek. Even with them, the exuberance of the performance was of secondary importance and so with Ireland's more limited resources, he has come to care not about the aesthetics.

He would gladly sign up for a 1-0 win over Andorra's part-timers, who share the bottom rung of the Fifa rankings ladder with Montserrat, Samoa, American Samoa and San Marino. Only twice have Trapattoni's Ireland won a competitive tie by more than a single goal, and one of those was the 3-1 home win over Andorra in September 2010. Cristian Martínez's goal for the visitors that night remains the only one that they have managed during the campaign. Trapattoni will cite it as evidence that anything can happen.

Andorra's strong-arm methods and the bumpy pitch are two of the ingredients for an upset. Trapattoni's style, or the lack of it, has polarised debate in Ireland. For much of the campaign the team have been terrible to watch and some supporters have been turned off. The knives were out for the Italian before the game in Russia last month, with the feeling being that defeat might hasten the end for him. But Ireland somehow escaped with a 0-0 when they could easily have lost 5-0 and with Armenia winning in Slovakia, Trapattoni bounced on.

Do not talk to him about good fortune or he will relate the tale of Thierry Henry's infamous handball for France in the play-off for the 2010 World Cup that served to deny Ireland a place in South Africa. Yet the adage about the preference for a lucky general appears to apply.

Richard Dunne is suspended but Trapattoni has varied things in defence of late yet the team have kept seven successive clean sheets, a national record. Parts seem interchangeable in the well-drilled collective framework. Perhaps The most remarkable statistic of Trapattoni's tenure is that Ireland remain unbeaten in competitive matches away from home.